Use Caution When Sharing Packing, Moving, & Other Stories Online

Finding ways to keep friends and family up to date on your life has gotten a little easier in recent years thanks to modern technology social media. So often now phone calls are getting replaced with text messages, letters with emails, and formal announcements are now posts on social media sites. In many ways these are good changes. It seems as though more people are connecting and staying up to date with people that they care about because it is so easy. However, you need to be cautious about what you post. You might be innocently showing how many boxes are going into storage or how much progress you’ve made packing for the big move, but these bits of information might fall into the wrong hands with the power of the internet.

Use caution when posting packing and moving information on the internet. (Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock.com)

When you share a post with your friends and family on a social media site, you probably intend for just your friends and family to see it. However, if your privacy settings are not set up a certain way or if a somebody shares a post, then your information can be seen by who knows how many people. The internet is a powerful thing that is written in ink. Keep in mind that anything you put up is up for good and can be spread quickly and easily.

“Going out for dinner and a movie after packing up most of the house,” is a sweet and informative caption to a picture of your beloved home that you’re about to move away from soon. Your friends and family might post little comments of congratulations on upgrading or what not. Not-so-nice people who happen to recognize the neighborhood might see this as an opportunity to quickly swoop in and take all of your packaged stuff.

“Can’t have this little beauty sitting in the sun! Packing all of our seasonal stuff to put into storage to clear out the garage,” could be a great caption for announcing and showing off your new car. It’s also good way to announce that you have something fancy and valuable sitting in your garage.

Even if your belongings were already out of your home, empty houses can be prime targets for vandals and even thieves. An empty house can be an easy target.

I realize that my post is beginning to sound a bit negative and gloomy, but I’m just trying to caution you to be careful about how you announce certain major life changes. Posting pictures can be give criminals a very clear idea of what to expect from your home. Announcing in conjunction with what you have in your home with your schedule of actually being home can be a recipe for disaster.

Sharing that you’re moving, going on vacation, making room for something new, or just about anything can be an innocent and information post, but it can also have repercussions if you’re not careful. Check your privacy settings on all social media accounts. Be cautious with sharing your location. Keep pictures of valuables to a minimum. And overall, just think carefully about what you’re posting BEFORE you post it because you its essentially impossible to completely erase something from the internet.